Power Outages = Dead Reef?

[Dewman]

Has anyone had any experience with power outages for periods of time long enough to cool your water below acceptable levels or to cloud your water?
The reason I ask ids that I live in a house built in 1919 and the electricity to the house still runs througha fuze box with screw-in glass fuzes.
Sometimes when it rains and the wind blows, our electricity goes out for like 5 hours until the electric company can get out to reset the transformer. Also, during the winter we get ice storms pretty badly, and transformers are always exploding up and down our hill.
So here's the question. Besides buying a generator, is there anything else I can do to keep my systems running, or to help maintain my tank during these times?
Specifically, what do you think would be the greatest concern during a power outtage longer than 6 hours?

 

[SteveP]

You'd be in less trouble with low temps than with high temps. If you can't regulate the temp the most crucial thing is aeration. Regardless of the temp the animals and plants need to respire. Battery-powered airstones are made for this. The bubbles will also help move the water around somewhat. Other than that you'll need a paddle!

Hey, here's an idea, has anyone put a candle or two in their cabinet to give the tank a little heat? Kinda dangerous, but it's an idea.

Steve
8{I

 

[Anonymous]

Your greatest concern during a prolonged power outage is CO2 build up in your tank or lack of oxygen. There are small battery powered airstone available that can pump air into your tank. They cost around 10.00 and can be found at www.petwarehouse.com. If your tanks chill down considerable this is also a problem.

People also use UPS battery backup system like the kind used with computers. But these are expensive and not usually good for prolonged power outages.

There are also convertors that can run off your cars batteries.

I had a 18 hour outage that killed a few fish. I went out and got a small generator. I've had to use it twice. It's a great feeling of security.

HTH

 

[Dewman]

I guess I will have to buy a generator. I didn't want to, but it looks like a MUST where I live.

 

[GateKeep]

I had an outage last winter for about 30 hours. I lit a fire in my fireplace (across the room from the tank) but temperature still got to about 68 fahrenheit.. A battery powered air pump, and keeping the tank wrapped in towels seemed to help. No losses at all.. It's only a 20g tank, but still I was pleased. Thinks seemed a bit freaked out for a couple days, but everything got back to normal after while. Definitely get a battery powered airstone, they're great in emergencies.

 

[Anonymous]

In rural upstate NY power outages dropping temps were the main fear for me. Even with a wood stove the tank gets too cold eventually. I had one outage of 5 days after an ice storm, and we frequently are out for 8-12 hours.

I really like the small portable Honda Generators- light and quiet and nice quality. Also about $900.

 

[ZenDogg]

Dewman,

What I would do is go buy a UPS for a computer as use it to power a powerhead or two inside the system. That should provide you with enough flow to handle gas exchange.

As for keeping your tank warm, just get wrap it in a blanket for the duration of the outage.

 

[ZigZagZombie]

As for keeping your tank warm....Heat up some water on your stove. If its a gas stove. Then put the water in a zip-lock bag. Then just put the bag in your tank. It works......

 

[fishfarmer]

I run my tank cooler in the winter so if I have an outtage the drop in temp won't be as much of a shock. I've had my tank drop from the upper 70's to the upper 60's, low 70's for a day without any losses. The best system for your tank would be one that will automatically run your tank for a few hours until you can get home and fire up a generator. Do a search for "backup power" in the general forum. There is a long thread I posted with lots of ideas for emergency power.

 

[bertoni]

I sent a private message on this, but decided I
might as well post a public response.

After a recent power outage, a UPS came to the top
of my list of things to buy. I found an HP
UPS for $80 that seemed to be a good buy for the
application. I think it'll run a pump and a
heater for up to a few hours, depending on
the rate of heat loss. Next Grid:
home page
also might be a good deal. For tank applications,
you don't really need a very sophisticated UPS
because the load is very static and the devices
more forgiving than a computer. Voltage
regulation should be much easier in this case.

[ January 25, 2002: Message edited by: Jonathan Bertoni ]</p>

 

[KanUCme]

I don't think that 6hours would be devisational. I mean people mail order fish overnight, and they are in the air and on the ground being tossed here and there in a little bag of water. I mean the lack of water movement isn't a good thing, but I wish I had the problem of worrying if my tank was too hot. The coldest my tank ever gets is about 73, and in the summer i have to worry about overheating. As here in So. CA the temps during the summer reach the 100's.

 

[dukecola]

When I lived in Texas, I experienced the same power outages due to the frequent severe thunderstorms in the summer. Once, with 100 degree+ temps outside, lost power for 6 hrs. The temp in the tank rose very quick from my chilled 76 degrees to 99 degrees. Needless to say, bags of ice and manual circulation of the water did not work in my 200G. Couldn't cool it no matter how hard I tried. I lost virtually all my fish. None of the corals, or other inverts died.

I don't think in winter, a power outage has that same effect as in summer. Since your house is insulated, it takes longer to cool down inside so the temp drop would not be as rapid. It's not necessarily the temp drop, but how rapidly it takes place which is the problem. It stresses the animals.

I now have a generator. Anything less would not be adequate for long power outages. Since your house has frequent ones, bite the bullet and get a generator, will be handy for household in addition to your tank. Nothing better than enjoying a hot meal, lights and your favorite TV show while all your neighbors are cooking a can of beans over a lit candle and staring at the walls.

Try Northern Tools mail order, they have great prices on a variety of generators.

 

[fishfarmer]

Here's a couple of companies with generators and other backup systems www.northerntool.com
www.majorpower.com

 

[Anemone]

Six hours can kill a reef tank - especially one with a heavily populated DSB, or one that is, um, "close to the edge" stocking-wise (and who isn't, at one point or another?).

Here's how I've addressed this problem - both of my home tanks are set up with the main circulation pump connected to an UPS (computer battery back up). A $100-$130 APC (American Power Company) Back-UPS unit will run a pump or two for 3-4 hours. Into this UPS I also have plugged in some PennPlax B-11 battery powered airpumps (these pumps are plug in, but only kick on when the power to the plug stops, supplying air to an airstone, which would at least provide some water movement and aeration).

The other nice thing about these units is that they have an audible alarm that rings when the power goes off (and yes, you can shut the alarm off after it rings), so you know if the power is off (even if you're sleeping < VBG&gt

.

I did this because I live in California; land of the earthquake, so longer power outages can be expected, from time to time. the way it works (I've tested it) is the power goes off and the UPS takes over, keeping my main circulation pumps running for 3-4 hours. When the UPS dies, the PennPlax pumps kick on, keeping the water moving (I have separate PennPlax pumps in the tank and refugiums). These pumps will run on a "D" battery (or two, I forget) for up to 48 hours. That's not generally necessary in my case, as I have a gas generator that I can use during daylight (really too noisy to use at night). The generator runs during daylight, powering everything, and recharging the UPS, the UPS and PennPlax run at night when I shut off the generator, keeping the water oxygenated.

Water temp really isn't much of an issue in SoCal, in your case, you could get a more expensive UPS so that it can run the heater a while longer Or get a separate UPS for the heater).

Just get the wattage/amperage draw on your main circulation pump (s), then go to the local Best Buy/computer store and look at the battery back up systems. They will have a chart on the box that tells you how long each unit will run under a given draw.

$100-$200 for the UPS and PennPlax (like $7-$10 each) combined really isn't that much to pay for insurance when you start thinking about how much money you have invested in your tank.

A generator is considerably more expensive ($500-$1000), but I convinced my significant other that we could use it to run the refrigerator and freezers in the event of a prolonged outage, saving money on food spoilage (but it's the tanks that get hooked up first, lol) - not to mention running the Nintendo for the kids......

Sorry this was so long, but I thought it important to post what I've done and why I did it that way.


Oh yeah, part of the "why," I like everything to be as automatic as possible. The first time I had a major outage (8+ hours), My family was 400 miles away from home (seems a tree fell in Oregon, taking out most of the California powergrid). I had to call the neighbor we had watching the house/feeding the animals, explain where the battery-operated pumps were, explain how and where to place them, etc. I decided then that there had to be an easier/more automatic way to ensure my tanks continued survival when I wasn't standing next to it (or still in the state and realizing a major power outage was occurring).

Kevin